The Lord of Void and Real

Chapter 75: Chapter 74: Accidental Encounter in the Back Mountain

“What are you doing?” A stern voice suddenly came from the mountain path above.

Upon hearing the voice, a smile creased the corner of Shen Luo’s mouth. He slackened his grip, and Ding Yuan staggered as if he had been pardoned, barely being caught by someone else before he fell on his bottom.

Immediately afterwards, a white figure flickered next to Shen Luo, and a person dropped from the sky.

Shen Luo knew from the distinctive voice that the newcomer was Bai Xiaotian. However, upon looking at him, he found that Bai was not wearing the martial arts school uniform today but had changed into a white robe, looking more dashing and suave than ever.

“The original… It’s Junior Bai. You guys slowly… Keep chatting, we have something to do and will leave first.”

Ding Yuan, clutching his right pinky and dripping with sweat, dared not to say much. He hurriedly begged for forgiveness and led the others in a hasty retreat as if they were fleeing.

“Hmph, a bunch of cowards.” Bai Xiaotian looked at the receding figures and cursed angrily.

“Young Master Bai, why are you so fiery today?” Shen Luo was not bothered and joked.

“You’re finally back…” Bai Xiaotian turned his head to size up Shen Luo, his face finally softened into a relieved smile.

“What, did you assume I wouldn’t come back?” Shen Luo chuckled.

“You’re really a goner. I can’t believe you wouldn’t tell me about something as significant as cultivation backlash. Do you even regard me as your senior brother anymore?” Bai Xiaotian feigned anger.

“I was going to tell you before I left, but I left in a hurry and didn’t get a chance to see you. I’m back now, aren’t I? With the wine and roasted goose, let’s call up Senior Brother Tian later and have a good chat,” Shen Luo laughed.

“Of course, drinking is fine, but unfortunately, I have to go down the mountain soon.” Bai Xiaotian slightly hesitated upon hearing that.

“Then we will wait until you come back,” Shen Luo suggested.

“Alright, I’ll leave first then.” Bai Xiaotian nodded.

Having said that, he turned and sprinted towards the mountain gate.

Shen Luo suddenly remembered something and called out, “Bai Xiaotian, when will you be back?”

“I’m going home, it might take half a month. Save some wine for me…” Bai Xiaotian’s figure had already disappeared on the winding mountain path, and only his voice echoed distantly.

Shen Luo watched Bai Xiaotian leave, then turned and continued towards his residence at Qingchipo.

After returning to his residence on the right side of the first floor and tidying it up, he went to report to Master Luo as usual. But he didn’t get to meet him and instead ran into Tian Tiesheng on his way back.

Tian Tiesheng was very happy to see Shen Luo back. The two men ate a roasted goose together, neither of them drinking, saving all the wine for Bai Xiaotian.

He then learned from Tian Tiesheng that Master Luo had been called away from the mountain a couple of days ago and had not yet returned.

During that time, Tian Tiesheng had inquired about Shen Luo’s health condition, showing obvious concern in his words.

Shen Luo was unsure of how to explain the situation to him. After all, if he were to tell the truth and mention the Nameless Heavenly Book, inevitably he would also have to discuss the jade pillow and the weird dreams, something he didn’t dare to speak up about.

In the end, he simply claimed that he had taken the life-saving pills given to him by Pavilion Master Fengyang and that his condition had stabilized, assuring Tian Tiesheng there was no need for concern.

Tian Tiesheng seemed to truly believe what Shen Luo had said.

Late in the evening, Shen Luo returned to his dwelling.

Sitting by the bed, breathing in the familiar scent of the room, looking at the somewhat messy layout, he suddenly felt nostalgic.

Even though he had only been away for seven or eight days, he still felt as if he had been away for an eternity.

What had happened in these few short days was so more grotesque and bizarre than the experiences he had in the two dream sequences. Not long ago, he had been a pitiful man nearing death, but now, he was a cultivator who had opened up his Dao seed.

After sitting quietly for a while, Shen Luo got up and fetched the jade pillow hidden under the bed.

“Should I try it again?”

He placed the jade pillow in front of him, stroking the surface of the pillow, feeling the cool touch of the jade under his palm, his eyes displaying a hint of hesitation. n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Now, he wasn’t as repulsed by the jade pillow as he had been initially. In fact, he was quite intrigued by it.

If not for this item, would he have met Yu Yan in his dream? Without Yu Yan’s unintentional disclosure of a story from his past while drinking, how would he have found the Nameless Cultivation Technique and subsequently successfully comprehended the Dao?

Now that he was a magic-wielding cultivator, if he attempted to activate this item with his magic power, would he make some unexpected gains?

Shen Luo thought about it and decided that it would be prudent to draw a few protective talismans first, then give it a try.

He went over to the table, took out the yellow talisman paper and cinnabar, focused his spirit and Qi, and started drawing talismans on the paper.

The first one he completed was the Small Thunder Talisman, which he was most proficient in. After intermittently creating two successful pieces, a thick stack of yellow talisman paper was already reduced by a little half.

This was already a significant improvement in his success rate compared to before.

Shen Luo put the two Small Thunder Talismans aside to dry, picked up his cinnabar brush again, and started drawing exorcism charms, which he was also fairly familiar with. After using up another small stack of talisman paper, he managed to draw three charms with complete spirit energy.

Afterwards, he put down the brush, didn’t continue drawing, but leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes to recharge his spirit.

Even though his current physical state was far from what it used to be, drawing talismans still drained considerable mental energy.

After almost half an hour of resting, he felt his spirit had fully replenished, so he picked up the brush again and drew several other talismans such as the Wishful Talisman and Warding Off Evil Talisman.

Because these talismans had never been tested before, and he had no successful experiences to draw upon, they were drawn swiftly. Whether they were successful or not could only be known after testing.

Shen Luo originally wanted to attempt to reproduce the talisman on the talismanic fork, but after taking it out and glancing at it, he put it away again.

It wasn’t for any other reason, except that the talisman wrapped around the fork handle was incomplete, and he didn’t dare to recklessly peel it off, for fear of ruining the talismanic instrument, so he had to give up.

In the end, he brought all the completed talismans over and placed them next to the jade pillow, ready for use at a moment’s notice.

After all this was done, Shen Luo began to operate the Nameless Method, to divert the mana from his body to his right arm, and reached out towards the jade pillow.

When his fingertips touched the jade pillow, a stream of mana, glowing with a blue light, flowed out as if it had been pulled, flowing towards the pillow.

Shen Luo frowned slightly, carefully controlling the flow of mana, paying full attention to the changes in the jade pillow.

After waiting for a while, he had already injected quite a bit of mana, but the jade pillow showed no movement at all.

Shen Luo didn’t immediately withdraw his hand, but persevered, continuing to inject mana into it.

Yet, even when he himself felt somewhat drained of mana, the jade pillow had not shown any changes from beginning to end.

“It seems I overthought it, or rather, this amount of mana is not enough to trigger a reaction from this thing…”

Shen Luo gave a bitter smile, had to withdraw his palm, feeling a faint sense of loss in his heart.

After days of travelling and now using up a considerable amount of mana, he simply packed up the jade pillow and talismans, and went to bed early.

…

The next day at early dawn.

After Shen Luo woke up and freshened himself up, he took the talismanic fork and the drawn talismans, and headed in the direction of the back mountain.

As of now, he had started cultivating the nameless technique from the Nameless Heavenly Book, naturally he didn’t have to go and cultivate the Small Transformation Yang Skill as part of his morning tasks. However, because of the special nature of the techniques in the Heavenly Book, he needed to find a pool or a creek to continue his cultivation.

Although he often visited the back mountain in the past, and knew the locations of a couple of mountain streams and deep pools, unfortunately, all those places were too conspicuous. If a disciple from the Pavilion passed by those locations, he would surely be discovered.

Shen Luo did not want the fact that he’d obtained the Nameless Heavenly Book to become public knowledge. He thought about finding a more secluded and tranquil place for cultivation, while also intending to try controlling the talismanic fork once more.

It was past high summer and approaching autumn; the morning winds on the mountain had clearly become colder.

Shen Luo walked along the mountain path, these eyes filled with eagerness as he looked at the breaking dawn atop the mountain peak. He rubbed his palms together, anticipating the day ahead.

The terrain of the back mountain of Spring and Autumn Pavilion was quite complex. In addition to a large area of dense forest, there were also steep cliffs protruding outward. Some of the deep pools formed by rainfall in the mountains were located beneath these cliffs.

Shen Luo avoided the regular routes and went through a densely shrubbed forest. He made a small path through thick thorns and wild grass, and arrived on top of an outstanding cliff.

The cliff had many rugged strange stones, appearing barren, but the view was extremely open.

He intended to use this high vantage point to look down and find a suitable and concealed place for his cultivation.

At the front of the cliff, there was a large rock protruding from the side of the mountain. Over time, it had become smooth and slippery with moss growing on it. After some difficulty, Shen Luo managed to climb on it.

He carefully approached the edge of the rock, intending to look down, when he suddenly heard voices arguing faintly from below. It seemed like two people were in a conversation.

When he leaned over to look down, he saw two figures, one old and one young, standing opposite each other at the bottom of the cliff, dozens of feet below.

As Shen Luo spotted the two people, they too noticed him. They immediately stopped their conversation and looked up in his direction.